This invention relates to a composite luminescent material and, more specifically, to a composite photoluminescent material having a fullerene layer and the capabilty of luminescing upon being irradiated with argon laser. The present invention is also directed to a method of preparing such a composite luminescent material.
Fullerenes are hollow molecules containing 32 to 960 carbon atoms and may be produced by, for example, a method disclosed in Nature, 347, 354 (1990) by Kratschmer et al. Among fullerenes, it is known that C.sub.60 and C.sub..sub.70 are stable. It is also known that C.sub.60 emits luminescence. However, the luminescence of C.sub.60 is very weak.